Portable collapsible traffic marker



Feb. 24, 1970 J. RIMKUS PORTABLE COLLAPSIBLE vTRAFFIC MARKER Filed April 3, 1968 [Ill/elder: Jazz Kimkus (,2 fi/ /mm Jliomeys.

United States Patent 3,496,904 PORTABLE COLLAPSIBLE TRAFFIC MARKER Jean Rimkus, 7001 S. Tolman Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60629 Filed Apr. 3, 1968, Ser. No. 718,452 Int. Cl. E01f 9/10; G08b /00 US. Cl. 116-63 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A highway traffic guide for motor cars comprising a square base made with marginal downflanges to raise the base from the ground. Above the base a series of tapered rings rises in telescoped and frictionally-nested succession to form the conical body of the guide; and a bail rises from the top ring as a handle to carry the guide. The base forms a closure for the bottom of the ring series to prevent the smaller rings from falling out through the becomes one when the guide is collapsed. In such form it becomes a flat bundle conveniently kept in the bottom of a motor car luggage compartment.

My invention relates to devices placed on highways to guide or control motor traffic, and more particularly to the conical guides set as barricades or separators of traffic lanes.

Guides of the type mentioned are usually about two feet tall and made hollow of light material, such as rubber or plastic substance. The guides are of a bright color or luminescent in order to be seen and avoided by drivers who understand their purpose; and a guide hit or knocked over inadvertently will suffer or cause no damage.

While guides of the above character are mainly distributed and handled by highway authorities for the safety of the motoring public, it is also desirable for motorists to have them handy for their own use in case of a repair or emergency stop along the highway. In such event a guide set a short distance to the front, and one behind will warn approaching motorists to steer clear of the parked car and avoid an accident. However, because such guides are made large to be readily seen by approaching drivers, it is not convenient for a motorist to carry one or two of them in the luggage compartment, as little or no room would be left in the same for luggage or other necessary articles. It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a highway traffic guide which is collapsible to a size permitting one or more guides to be kept in the luggage compartment, while leaving ample room therein for luggage and other necessary articles.

A further object is to design a traffic guide which is collapsible telescopically to form a flat bundle only a few inches high while leaving ample overhead room for stacking additional guides on top of it or depositing other articles in the luggage compartment.

Another object is to construct the novel guide in a form generally similar to guides in public use.

A better understanding of the invention may be gained by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which-- FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the guide, partly in section;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of an open luggage compartment, showing two guides deposited therein; and

3,496,904 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the upper part of the guide, showing a signal light mounted in the same.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 10 denotes the base of the guide, which is a square board, turned down at the rimas indicated at 10ato clear uneven places or obstacles underneath when set on the ground.

The guide extends above the base in the form of a series of tapered rings 12 which nest in each other telescopically and frictionally to form the conical body of the guide, as illustrated by full lines in FIG. 1. The lowest ring has a base flange 12a which is sealed or otherwise permanently joined to the base 10. The latter thus forms a bottom closure for the hollow body of the guide, preventing the smaller rings above the bottom one from dropping through the base. Thus, the guide cannot come apart. The top ring receives a bail 14 for facility to handle or carry the guide.

While the series of rings holds together by friction when extended as shown in FIG. 1, it can be collapsed by depressing the top ring, so that it becomes very short, as indicated by the finely-dotted lines seen in the bottom of FIG. 1. The guide bundle is now flat enough to be deposited in the luggage compartment of a motor car as seen in FIG. 3. A second guide is shown deposited alongside the one under consideration, so that two guides are available in case a repair or emergency stop is contemplated.

FIG. 4 shows the guide equipped with a simple lighting facility in case the guide is to be used at night. For this purpose the bail 14 is momentarily swung aside for the deposit of an angle-shaped flashlight 15 into the top ring. Now the light serves as a signal which draws attention to the guide at night.

It will now be evident that the invention makes possible the use of highway trafiic guides by motorists for parking safely along the highway, with the added advantage of compactly storing the guides in the luggage compartment when they are not needed. When stored in this manner the guides are readily available when needed, and extended for use by simply pulling up on the bail 14 while the base is held down. Finally, the parts of the guide are simple and combine into a structure which is efficient in either the extended or collapsed form.

I claim:

1. A portable, collapsible, trafiic marker comprising:

a substantially enlarged, fiat rectangular base member having a peripheral, downwardly directed rectangular marginal flange defining a downwardly-opening, rectangular recess for providing stability against tipping, and frictional resistance at the edge to prevent sliding of the marker;

a plurality of upwardly-tapered, tubular, frustro-conical sleeves having upwardly decreasing cross sections and being telescopically connected to each other for forming an elongated extensible and collapsible sleeve,

upper and lower marginal edges of adjacent sleeves being frictionally secured in annular engagement for maintaining the marker erected in its extended condition,

the lower frustro-conical sleeve including a lower, rectangular flange extending laterally and secured and overlying the rectangular base membet and conforming thereto for increasing the stability of the marker when both erected and 3 4 collapsed, the lower diameter of the lower frusof the uppermost sleeve and removably retained to-conical sleeve being substantially less than therein by said bail-like handle. the overall area of the flat base member and being located symmetrically on said base mem- References Cited thg l lppermost frusto conical sleeve 'ncluding a 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 bail-like wide handle pivotally connected at the 2,800,099 7/1957 Bilker 116' 63 upper edge of the uppermost sleeve and being 2,819547 1/1958 C ements 40-425 positionable diametrically thereover, the uppermost Sleeve Opening upwardly; and 10 LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Primary Examlner a light source removably received in the open top 

